Dear Doctor
by Pongo0614
Summary: In need of an imaginary friend? Lonely and need someone to talk to? Need someone to talk about strange adventures? The Doctors are here for your needs. Write a letter to The Doctors and we will make sure someone listens to you.
1. Advert and Letters

_So here I am with another story._

 _This idea came from watching a Christmas film (the name of it escapes me at the moment) and it has kinda grown from there. This isn't going to be a massive story. So hold tight and let's get on with it._

* * *

 **Advert and Letters**

 _ **Dear Doctor**_

 _In need of an imaginary friend?_

 _Lonely and need someone to talk to?_

 _Need someone to talk about strange adventures?_

 _The Doctors are here for your needs._

 _Write a letter to The Doctors and we will make sure someone listens to you._

* * *

1st September 1992

Dear Doctor,

I think I did something wrong today. My parents never really shout at me but today they did. I don't know how it really happened. See I am terrified of getting lost, and today I got lost. When I realised my mum and dad weren't anywhere to be seen, I started to cry. I could not see them.

Then my mum found me. She told me not to do that again. She hugged me tightly. I don't know how I got lost from them but I did. I think they were as scared as me. We did have fish and chips and then my mum told me, once we were home, that she would always be able to find me. Is that true?

I just don't know. I just don't want them to worry about me. I don't think I am scared of getting lost now but I don't know.

Clara Oswald

* * *

Dear Clara,

Wow, that sounds like it was scary. I am glad that your mum found you.

Yes, it is true. Parents are usually good at knowing where their children are or what they are thinking. See they have known you all your life. They are the people that know you best.

I am sure that you aren't scared of getting lost now. I am pretty sure you are a lot braver now. It was just the shock of what was happening, like when your mum shouted at you. It was only because of the shock of what happened and the relief of finding you again.

Anyway, shall we go on an adventure? To take your mind off things.

Doctor

* * *

Dear Doctor

I feel better about it now, but what sort of adventure will we go on?

Nothing too scary I hope.

Clara Oswald

* * *

Dear Clara,

Hmm, do you like amusement parks?

We could go to Hedgewick's World. The biggest and best amusement park there will ever be. If we have a golden ticket, there is free ice cream. There are rides, like Spacey Zoomer and World of Wonders, which has a chess set. An amazing place.

Doctor

* * *

Dear Doctor

That sound like fun. We definitely need a golden ticket. I like ice cream. Not really into chess but the Spacey Zoomer sounds like fun. It wouldn't be dangerous, would it? What is a Spacey Zoomer?

Clara Oswald

* * *

Dear Clara,

I thought you might ask that. It is a ride where you can float around like you were in space without having a spacesuit on. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

Maybe it would be a little dangerous. You might be in the middle of a flip when the anti-gravity is turned off. Maybe somewhere a little safer. Does history interest you? Or maybe ghost?

Doctor

* * *

Dear Clara,

Clara? Do you not need to talk to me anymore?

I understand if you don't. Growing up is hard.

Doctor

* * *

10th March 2005

Dear Doctor,

I am sorry I stopped writing to you. I enjoyed the adventures we went on together when I was younger. It was just nice to speak to someone else, other than my parents and my friends. I don't know. Even though I didn't know you, I felt like I could tell you all my secrets.

I saw that you were still advertising in the newspaper and hoped that you might reply to me once again. I just need someone to confine in. Maybe someone who won't just tell me that everything will be alright in the end. That I will get over this period in my life. It just doesn't feel like it at the moment.

Five days ago, my mum died and I feel as though my life has ended. I know it hasn't but it has just been hard. Every day I come home and expect to see her in the kitchen, baking a soufflé or something sweet like that. I shout out to her, expecting her to shout back. I just want her back.

Clara Oswald

* * *

Dear Clara,

I am glad to hear from you again, although that is not the happiest of news. I would say that I am sorry but you have probably heard that some many times that it doesn't feel like it means anything anymore.

I know how you feel, I lost my mum young as well. Well I lost both my parents, but this isn't about me, it is about you. At a guess, you are looking for advice. I mean, how is your dad taking it?

I heard soufflés were hard to do. Maybe you making one will make you feel less alone. At least do something that you know you would love to share with your mum. It is hard and it does seem like the end of the world. At a guess, you turned to your mum a lot. Things will get better. It will just take time. The best thing to do is to just try and remember her, going back to the soufflé.

I hope this helps.

Doctor

* * *

Dear Doctor,

I did as you said and made a soufflé. Unfortunately, it fell flat. It was still tasty though and my dad laughed as I took it out of the oven to see that it had fallen. Apparently, the look on my face was that funny. It was nice to see him laugh. I would have settled for a smile.

I keep reading over your words and you are right. We just have to remember her. Saturday's have now become baking day. I spend all day in the kitchen and I will perfect my mum's soufflé recipe. Even if it just makes the house smell like cake, it will be better than the flowers we keep getting.

I am sorry that you lost both your parents. I don't think I would cope if I lost my dad as well as my mum.

I think we will be fine now. I just needed so see another way to direct my grief. It seems I have directed it into baking, although my dad tells me not to forget about my school work.

Thank you again.

Clara Oswald

* * *

3rd November 2014

Dear Doctor,

Do you sometimes feel like the universe is against you?

I last wrote to you about my mum's death and now I write to you about my boyfriend, Danny's death.

Have I done something wrong?

I am owed better, aren't I?

Clara Oswald

* * *

Clara Oswald,

I doubt that anything you could do would be wrong. I doubt that the universe is against you. And you probably are owed better.

I can tell you now, from what I have read, that I am sure that you will make your way through this. If the universe was against you, I think it has chosen the wrong person to go against. Show it that you are better.

Doctor

* * *

Doctor,

I want to thank you for all your help. Maybe there are a few things that you have said that I have smiled at that maybe I shouldn't have done. Thank you for making me feel better about another death.

I was just wondering if we could meet up, so I can thank you in person?

Love,

Clara Oswald


	2. Meet and Greet

_Thank you for the reviews._

 _I forgot to mention in the last chapter that I will be uploading every other day. So here is the next chapter._

 _Enjoy._

* * *

 **Meet and Greet**

John looked at the letter, re-reading it for what felt like the millionth time. It wasn't that she had replied back to him. They had been communicating for months now as she wrote to him about how her boyfriend's death had affected her. It was that she had asked him if they could meet up. The only reason he took the damn job was because he could help other people without actually interacting with them.

He had always been told that he had a rather blunt way of putting things, which some people liked. Apparently, being told how it was, was what some people wanted to hear. There was also the point that he had always been good with words and not people. He wanted to help but knew that if he had any other job, he would have been known as the miserable old man who keeps himself to himself. He hadn't actually yet found someone that he liked. He just managed to put up with people. The brief contact that he had with them was enough.

He read over the letter again. She would only be disappointed when she saw him anyway. He was old and she was young. She would want the person to be young as well. Like the person who started writing to her in the first place and was next door. John placed the letter back into the envelope before walking out of his office and into the one next door.

"Have you forgotten how to knock now?" Matt said as John sat down in the chair opposite him.

John just placed the envelope on his desk, on top of the letter he was currently writing. He watched as Matt picked it up and looked at it.

"It is addressed to you." He stated, handing it back to him.

"I think it would suit you more."

"John, it is your letter. It was sent to you."

"It will suit you better."

Matt sighed and removed the letter from the envelope when he realised that John wasn't going to take it back. He read through the letter, smiling from the memories of writing to Clara when she was younger. He sighed again when he reached the bottom.

"You have obviously made an impression on her. Well done." He commented.

"I didn't want to make an impression on her."

"I didn't make that impression on her. She didn't want to meet me. I no longer have her because they thought that you would be better for her, which they were right. You are just going to have to suck it up and go and meet her." Matt placed the letter back in the envelope and placed it in front of him.

"But she wouldn't want to meet me."

"I know what you are asking and I can't do it. I am being inundated with letters from someone that I write to. She is getting married and has cold feet about it all. I am trying to get her to actually marry him because it does sound like she does love him."

John couldn't help but glare at him. "You know I am not good with people."

Matt ignored the glare and went back to his letter. "Well, you better get better with people."

He huffed as he stood up and left Matt to it. He considered going down to the next office but thought better of it. He would just be turned down as Matt turned him down. One of them would end up giving him the lecture about how each Doctor has been chosen specificity for each letter that is sent. There are only a few that have had two Doctors in that time. Clara being one of them.

He dropped back into his chair as he got back into his office and took the letter out of the envelope to read it one more time. She wanted to meet him. Maybe he could write back and say that it was company policy that he couldn't meet up with her to keep the secret of the Doctors or something stupid like that. He was really being stupid but he didn't want to disappoint her. If he disappointed her, then she might stop writing to him. He really likes writing to her. It felt like they were on the same sort of wavelength. It was actually quite refreshing.

He sighed heavily before grabbing a piece of paper and writing his reply to her.

* * *

Clara felt giddy as she picked up her post to see that the Doctor had replied to her letter. The time that he had taken to reply did make her worry about the contents of it though. If he wanted to or could meet up with her, she would expect that he would have replied rather soon after, like most of his letters. She took a deep breath before she opened the envelope and pulled the letter out.

She scanned through the letter, trying to find the answer to her question. She reread the same line a number of times before it sunk in.

He had agreed to meet up with her.

She smiled widely before giggling. She was going to me up with her Doctor. She knew that this Doctor wasn't the same person that she had been communicating with in the past. He wrote differently, slightly more grown up, but that was what had made her want to meet up with him. She wanted to speak to the sophisticated man that she was speaking to.

She laid down on the sofa, holding the letter to her chest. She had tried to imagine him a few times. She expected him to be slightly old, but sharply dressed. She expected someone that always had a story to tell. Someone that you could just sit there and listen to all day.

That was the reason she wanted to meet up with him. She wanted to hear him talk about what he was writing. She wanted to have a voice to his words rather than speaking them in her own inner monologue. She was sure it would sound so much better.

She giggled to herself again, knowing that she would have to reply to tell him where to meet her.


	3. Tea and Cake

_Thank you for the reviews._

 _So, is John going to meet up with Clara?_

* * *

 **Tea and Cake**

"Why did you agree to meet up with her if you had no intention of meeting up with her?" Matt asked.

"Because … every excuse I thought of just didn't sound right. I knew that she would just see through it and then ask me about it."

"I thought you were meant to be good with words."

"Please go and meet her for me. She wouldn't want me."

"You aren't going to leave me alone until I agree, are you?"

"If you had the choice to meet you, a young handsome man, or me, the old grump, who would you chose?"

Matt dragged his hands down his face. "Okay. I will go."

"I owe you." John said as he stood up.

"You do." Matt muttered, knowing that he didn't hear him.

* * *

Clara sat there nervously, waiting for the Doctor to turn up. She had chosen a small cafe, not far from where she worked. It was somewhere that she had been a lot and it allowed her to get there before the time she had said to already have a tea ordered for herself. She wondered if he would actually turn up. She didn't know a lot of about the person she wrote to and what they were and weren't meant to do. Or maybe he didn't want to meet her like she wanted to meet him.

The moment he walked in and scanned the room for her, she knew it was him. She didn't know really why she knew it was him, she just did. It was one of her Doctors. Not really what she was expecting but she was just glad that he came.

"Clara?" He said when he got to her table.

She smiled up at him. "Yes."

He smiled back at her before he took the seat opposite her. She took that moment to look at him properly. He was definitely older than her. Even if he was her first Doctor, he was still too young to be talking to her at the age of 6, he would have only been a few years older than her. But maybe that is what they were all about, recruiting people who could stay young of mind forever.

"Do you want anything?" She asked him.

"A cup of tea wouldn't go a miss." He said as the waitress walked over to them.

Clara ordered a pot of tea along with two slices of cake that she really liked. She wanted a long chat with him and hoped that if food was there, he would stay for longer. She wanted to get to know him. She wanted to know the man behind the letters. Maybe she was just kidding herself really. Maybe the true reason was because she could feel herself falling for the man that was writing to her.

"Maybe I should start by thanking you, again for helping me." She said.

"I know the service is aimed at a younger audience but I think you would be surprised at how many are actually adults who just want someone to listen to them, someone who won't just judge them straight away."

"It is nice just to talk to you." Clara smiled widely at him.

"Likewise."

As he spoke, she tried to match his voice to the words on the letter that was in her handbag. There was something about him that felt familiar but not really familiar enough. She thanked the waitress as she placed down the tea and cake.

"Is it okay that I have wanted to meet up with you for a while and now I am, I don't actually know what I want to say to you?"

He laughed. "Maybe I should have properly introduced myself. I know about you but you don't know anything about me. I'm Matt."

"So how did you become … a Doctor?" She picked up her tea and leant on her elbows.

"You are chosen. I was chosen young, younger than some of the other people I work with. It is like the advert. I think it only shows itself to people that it thinks it will benefit from. An active imagination and a child like mind."

"I thought that. That you must have got into it young. I started writing to the Doctors when I was six. I would doubt that you were much older than that."

He cleared his throat, trying to hide the fact that he had choked on his tea because of her question. "I am older than I look."

She tilted her head to the side. What did he mean by that?

"So you have been doing it for a while?" She ended up asking.

"Yeah, unlike you with your teaching. I am guessing it is going well."

"Well as it can. They frustrate me as much as I probably bore them."

"I doubt you bore them."

"I do see it on there faces. You would be surprised what you see when you are standing up at the front of the class. You see everything. From the doodlers to the compulsive phone users. I see the bored faces as much as the ones that are silently hoping that the bell will ring or I will shut up."

"I am sure you are a great teacher."

Clara huffed. She knew that she was but sometimes she just didn't feel like it. She knew it by the exam results her classes got but when they were actively trying to be disruptive, it just felt like she was bad at her job.

"This is amazing." He commented after he had a forkful of the cake.

"I know. I order it every time I come here. I probably come here a little too often because of it."

"I am sure you could treat yourself now and again."

She smiled at him. "It is good to finally meet you. To put a face and voice to the words and all that."

"Really?"

"It doesn't seem right speaking the words in my own inner monologue. Come on, you must try and imagine the people writing to you. Think about what they look like and what they would sound like if you had a conversation with them. Even try and work their personality out just by the words they use."

He looked at her blankly.

"Or that might just be me the English teacher."

"Maybe."

She watched him as he took another mouth full of the cake. For someone who wrote anonymous letters, knowing the other person's name, she would have thought that he would have wondered about the person that he was writing to. Maybe it just didn't bother him as it did her.


	4. Him and Not Him

_Thank you for the reviews._

* * *

 **Him and Not Him**

She read through the latest letter, still trying to match Matt's voice to the words written. She could hear the words in his voice, but it just didn't match them. He felt familiar, like they had spoken before, but just not recently.

Clara placed down the letter and picked herself off the sofa to go to her bedroom. Once she was there, she picked up an old shoebox from the wardrobe and sat on her bed, placing the box on her lap. She took out the past letters that the Doctor had written to her and read them in Matt's voice. She smiled as the words matched his voice better. She could just imagine him getting all excited about going on theme park like rides in some space park.

So she had spoken to Matt, in the past. Which made her think back to his comment of 'I am older than I look'. What did he mean by that?

It had confirmed her thought that he felt familiar but not. He was a man that had helped her and when she was getting over her mum's death, she had thought about meeting up with him, but never did. She hadn't felt the urge like when she asked a few weeks ago.

* * *

Clara didn't know whether she was annoyed or not that he had sent someone else in his place. She had thought about writing to him, confronting him about it. She wondered if it was some company policy, to try and keep their identity a secret. But if it was that, Matt wouldn't have been able to meet with her.

She spent too much time thinking about it but she knew that she still wanted to meet him. She wanted to speak to the person that she was writing to now. She didn't want someone from the past.

She sighed as she looked down at the blank paper. What did she want to say to him? Did she want to tell him that it was nice to meet his co-worker? Did she just want to thank him for meeting with her and make it seem like she didn't know that it wasn't him? Did she want to ask him why he didn't come to their meeting? Why he agreed if he wasn't going to turn up?

She could have asked all those questions, but she felt like she would scare him off. She didn't want to stop writing to him. She wanted to be his friend or maybe even something more. She loved his use of words. She loved the way that he would start off his letter with Clara Oswald. She wanted to hear what her name would sound like in his voice.

There was so much that she wanted to know about him and she had hoped to find out when he had agreed to meet her.

She wondered if it was her. Was she being too forceful when she asked to meet him? Had the words he written meant a different thing to him? Had she read further into his words than she should have done? Was it the 'Love Clara' at the end of her last couple of letters that had scared him off?

Clara looked at the black piece of paper before she picked up her pen and started to write down what she thought she should say to him.

* * *

John wanted to ask Matt how his meeting with Clara went. He wanted to ask how she was. He wanted to ask what she looked like. He wanted to ask whether her voice still had her Blackpublican accent. But he knew the answer he would get. He would be told that if he wanted to know he should have gone.

It still didn't stop him from hovering outside Matt's office for a while the next morning, wanting to ask the questions. He stopped himself from knocking on the door a few times before Matt opened the door as he raised his hand.

"You want to know about Clara." He stated.

"I know what you are going to say," John said when he followed him in.

"And I thought I was the only one who obsessed over Clara." Matt sighed.

"Sorry?" John asked. "Wait, why didn't you jump at the chance to meet her?"

"Because she was given to you."

John felt guilty for pushing him to go and met Clara now. He hadn't really thought about the reason why he was given Clara after Matt had seemed to do a good job. Technically he was her Doctor. It wasn't like Matt had given her to him. The powers at be just decided that John was to have her.

"You know, she is everything that her letters are. She is an intelligent person and very beautiful. Short, shorter than you would imagine." Matt sighed again. "She knew that I was a Doctor and that we had spoken but I don't think I was the person she was expecting. John, if she asks to meet again, you have to go and meet her. What was it that she said. To put a face and voice to the words. Your words."

He now felt guilty for her. She was expecting him to be there. And like him, she wanted to put the person to the words. Maybe he should have just swallowed his insecurities and gone and met her.

But he was still certain that she wouldn't have wanted to see him. She liked the idea of him. This man who could write away what she was feeling and make everything better. She didn't actually want to see him. He would just disappoint her.

John nodded before getting out of the chair.

"Is that it? Are you going to meet her?" Matt asked.

John stopped at the door and turned back to him. "I don't know."

He was not happy to see the pile of letters on his desk until he sat down and sifted through them. He recognised her handwriting instantly. He hadn't obviously done anything to scare her off unless this was a letter of goodbye. He placed it to one side, saving it till he felt strong enough to face the contents of her letter.


	5. More and More Letters

_Thank you for the reviews._

* * *

 **More and More Letters**

Clara was glad of one thing. Whoever was writing to her hadn't stopped writing to her. She smiled as she picked up another letter from him, looking forward to sitting down with a cup of tea to read it. She thought that she had subtle let on that she knew that it wasn't him that met her. She didn't want to come out with it. She felt like she had scared him away once, she didn't want to scare him off totally.

There was one thing that she couldn't deny any more and that was that she was falling in love with him. She had fallen in love with the words that he used and the way that they had been put. She had fallen in love with the man that picked up his pen to write to her, even though he had already helped her enough.

A thought that he might feel the same as her crossed her mind but she quickly batted it away. She might be an English teacher but she wasn't as good with words as he was. The way he wrote was like he was writing a song, for her.

As soon as her tea was made, she made her way back into the living room and dropped down onto the sofa. Her marking could wait half an hour, it was just her and her Doctor now. This was their time and she was going to enjoy it.

She opened the envelope and pulled out the letter before she unfolded it. She sipped on her tea as she read through the letter. She smiled at parts of it and her earlier thought crossed her mind. Did he feel the same as her? It was the first letter that he had put 'Love Doctor' at the end.

Clara didn't know a subtle way to ask him so she thought about ways that she might be able to get it out of him. She folded it back up as she thought about the way she was going to reply.

* * *

It surprised him that it had taken Clara a little while longer to reply to him. Usually their letters were only days apart but this one was dated two weeks after her last one, which wasn't like her. He held the folded letter in his hands, unknowing if he wanted to open it.

Had he scared her off by not showing up himself? Was it because he had put 'Love Doctor' at the end of his last letter? Had he misread what she was trying to tell him? Had he just been the biggest idiot going and scared off the best thing to happen to him since River, his wife, died?

John knew that he was being an idiot. He wouldn't be sitting in his office, late at night, wondering what Clara would have thought if he went to meet her instead of sending Matt. He should have just sucked it up and gone and meet up with her. Then he would be regretting it. He knew he was going to regret it either way.

"Are you still here?"

John jumped before he looked at the door to see Matt standing there.

"Yeah, just finishing up." He said, holding up the unfolded letter.

"Well lock up when you leave. And make sure you turn out all the lights."

John smiled at him. "I will."

He waited for Matt to go before he stood up and walked over to his arm chair. He dropped down into it and turned on the light beside it. He sighed as he finally unfolded the letter and read it.

* * *

Clara had expected him to keep her waiting like she had done to him, but she was glad when she noticed his letter in amongst her other post. She hadn't meant to wait two weeks to reply to him but she just couldn't write what she wanted to in a way that she wanted to. She had tried a number of times before she sent the letter and that one wasn't right in her case.

She had no idea why she felt so nervous about writing what she did or why it took her so long to find the words that she wanted. She shoved the other letters under her arm and held it out in front of her. She wanted to rip it open there and then but she knew that it wasn't the place. It was something for the comfort of her flat.

When she reached her flat, she placed the rest of her post on the side before she sat down with the letter. She wondered whether he had read what she wanted him to read or if she had been too subtle. She tucked her legs underneath her as she sat on the sofa and finally opened it.

As she read his letter, she had realised that she had been too subtle, but without saying that she wanted to meet up with him again, how was she meant to see if he felt the same as her. She had scared him off the first time. She was certain that she did.

She sighed as she realised that she might have to go about it in a different matter. She would have to be blunter and have to run the risk of scaring him off. She knew that her reply would take longer this time as she would have to think of a way to put it.

She re-read the letter again and noticed that he had used 'My Clara' to start the letter. She had focused so hard on the main part she had missed the obvious. Maybe he did feel the same about her. Maybe it wasn't just her. She felt giddy with the thought that it wasn't just her.

She stood up, knowing instantly how she was going to start her next letter. Her marking, yet again, being forgotten. She opened up the pad of paper and grabbed a pen before she started writing.

 _My Doctor,_


	6. Bumping Into and Apologising

_Thank you so much for the reviews._

 _Sorry for the late update. Work. I swear to god someone else needs to employ me. I can't do this much longer._

* * *

 **Bumping Into and Apologising**

She would admit that she was rushing as she tried to get out of school as fast as she could. It had been a couple of days since she sent off her latest letter to the Doctor and she knew that the reply would be waiting for her. She wanted to get home as soon as possible, which the meeting that was organised for after school making the want to go home worse.

With her arms full of marking, Clara made her way out of the gates as quickly as she could. She wished that she had her motorbike but it was in the garage for a service. It just meant that she was going to quickly walk all the way home.

Her head was down as she made sure that she hadn't forgotten any of her marking when she bumped into the person. As she fell, she let go of her marking, making some of it fall out of the bag. She wanted to stand up and tell the person to look where they were going but the word caught in her throat as she saw the man in front of her.

"Are you alright?" He said as he held out his hand to her.

Clara felt speechless as she looked up at him. She felt like she knew him but couldn't place where she had met him before. She thought about putting his Scottish accent to the letters from the Doctor but thought better of it. It wouldn't be him. Why would he be standing outside the school she taught at?

"Yeah, I am fine." She said as she took his hand.

She allowed him to pull her up and watched him as he picked up her marking. She felt like she was in shock about it all.

"Here." He said holding the bag out to her. "Sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going. Too busy looking at my phone to find a place."

"Don't worry. I wasn't exactly paying attention either. Making sure I have all my marking."

"Teach anything good?" He asked.

To Clara, that sounded too familiar. The Doctor had asked her that once, using those exact words. In that moment, she wondered whether he was trying to tell her who he was or if he just happened to use the same words as him. The question was on the tip of her tongue.

"Yeah, had the whole day talking about Jane Austen. She is my favourite author." She said instead.

"I think if I was a teacher, I would end up going off on so many tangents."

"Do you want to go and get a coffee?" She asked without really thinking.

She hoped that he would say yes. Just from a few minutes of conversation, she wanted to hear more from him. She wanted to drop hints to see if he would know if he was who she thought that he might be. If he wasn't, she wanted to sit there and listen to him speaking in his Scottish burr.

"Umm, I better get on. Find this place that I am looking for. Plus, I think you would probably want to get on with your marking."

She didn't know why she felt so disappointed. Maybe it was because she thought that this was the man that she had been writing to.

"Yes sorry. I let you get on."

* * *

He didn't like her frown. It made him want to take back his answer and tell her that he would go and get a coffee with her.

"Yes sorry. I let you get on." She said, granting him a smile.

John watched her walk off and he almost called out to her. He didn't want her to go but he knew the problems that he had with people. He wondered whether this was Clara Oswald. He knew that she worked at Coal Hill School, the same school he was currently standing outside of.

He remembered what Matt had said about her being short and beautiful. She matched that description and he wondered whether he had just turned down coffee with her for the second time. He cursed as the realisation that what he had just thought could have happened. He was an idiot. Why didn't he say yes?

He huffed as he looked back down at his phone to see where he needed to go. If there was going to be a third chance of tea or coffee with Clara, he would have to suggest it. He just needed to bite the bullet and ask her. He knew that River would just call him an idiot and tell him to do it if she was here.

John carried on with his journey and made himself promise that if Clara brought up this little meeting, he would ask her out for coffee. She deserved to know that she had bumped into him. She deserved to meet him. He would take her rejection.

He had fallen in love with the woman behind the words and he knew that was one of the reasons why he didn't want to meet her. If she didn't like him the way that he liked her, then it would break his heart. He had a feeling that she was in love with him because of his use of words. Would she still love him if she knew it was him?

If that was Clara, then she was old enough to be his daughter. It would seem so inappropriate for them to be together and for him to love her like he does. He knew that she was obviously younger than him but he never did the calculations for the dates and how old she would actually be. He just felt like a dirty old man now.

Maybe he shouldn't ask her out for coffee. Maybe he should just stop writing to her and just allow her to get on with her life. She could still find love at her age. A nice guy, her own age, to settle down with. He cursed to himself as he tried to banish the thoughts of Clara Oswald from his mind.


	7. Problems and Solutions

_Thank you for the reviews._

 _Another late posting today. Karate this morning and work this afternoon/evening. Finally got more than five minutes to myself._

* * *

 **Problems and Solutions**

Clara had been thinking a lot about her potential meeting with the Doctor and it was annoying her now. She wanted to know whether that was him but she didn't know how to ask him. The problem that she had was that it would be awkward if it wasn't him. She felt certain that it was him. She read the letter as soon as she got home in the man's Scottish voice and it just seemed to fit.

She had sent a couple of letters since the meeting, starting with the intention to ask but leaving the question out in the end. She felt like she had almost scared him off once. She didn't want him to stop writing to her completely.

She picked up the pad of paper and sighed. She knew how she was going to word it now. She was going to tell him about the meeting before saying that she thought it was him. If he didn't reply back to her, she would know that it was him and she know that she had finally scared him off. If he did reply, saying that it wasn't him, she would send him a letter of apology before thanking him for what he has done and leaving it at that.

She didn't know what she would do if he replied back telling her that it was him.

Clara knew that she would probably be angry if that was the case. He had turned down coffee with her for a second time. But she knew that she would also be relieved as she would finally know who her mystery Doctor was.

She had found the Scot to be handsome, even though he was older than her. There was something about him. All suited up with the big fluffy hair. Even the grey hair seemed to suit him.

She had rejected the thought of getting herself an older man years ago. She never really had an interest in pretty young men. She could always see herself with someone older than her. She had dated someone older than her before. Her dad had been horrified to find out that his 18-year-old daughter was dating a 25-year-old. But she was older herself now. Maybe it would be taken better this time around.

She now hoped that it was him.

* * *

The solution to his problem was very easy. Tell Clara that she had bumped into him and invite her out for coffee. It was as simple as that.

But to John, it didn't seem that simple to write it.

He scrunched up the fifth piece of paper before throwing it in the direction of the bin. He knew that he hadn't got it in by the dull thud of the ball of paper hitting the side of the bin but he didn't care in that moment. He would care later when he had to go and pick it up. But not now. Now was for replying to Clara's letter.

He thought that he could play the idiot and pretend that it wasn't him but he was scared that if he gave her that answer, she would stop writing to him. He would have pushed her away for the third time and it was going to be his last chance.

He remembered what he promised himself and tried to write that but whatever he wrote just didn't feel right. He felt like some teenager that felt too nervous to speak to girls. He had, on a number of occasions, reminded himself that he was in his late fifties and that he had no reason to be nervous.

But it was Clara. Clara Oswald. The woman who he was sure that he was in love with.

He groaned as he read through what he had written and screwed up that piece of paper.

"I thought I would never see the day that you were seemingly lost for words," Matt said as he entered.

"What do you want?" John snapped.

"I thought you might want some help."

"I don't need your help. I know what I need to say. I just don't know how I am going to say it just yet. Okay?"

"You do know that the saying it two heads are better than one."

"And there is also the saying too many cooks spoil the broth."

"John, it is just me," Matt said.

He sighed. "I am trying to write a letter to Clara, telling her that I was the man that she bumped into the other week and that we should meet up for coffee. There. You happy now?"

"Really? You are finally going to do it?"

"That is if I can find the right words."

Matt smiled widely at him. "Well, I can help you with that."

* * *

Clara had left the recent letter from the Doctor unopened. She was trying to find the strength to open it. She desperately wanted it to contain the answer she wanted. She wanted the man to be him. If it was him, she would invite him out for coffee for the third time.

It felt like the envelope was watching her as she tried to do her marking. She went from looking at it every so often to looking at it every few minutes, taking a few moments to guess what the contents was. In the end, she threw down her pen and grabbed the letter.

"Please be what I want you to be." She whispered to the letter as she opened it.

Clara took a deep breath before she opened the letter and read it.

The thing that surprised her most wasn't that she had literally bumped into him, but that he was the one that had invited her out for coffee, or chips, or coffee and chips. She couldn't contain herself and squealed as she re-read the letter in his Scottish voice.

She could imagine him sitting there, picking out the words that would best suit the situation. She knew that she would have to return to her marking now but all she wanted to do was reply to him, telling him that she would love to meet up with him for coffee.


	8. Reveal and Not Disappointment

_Thank you for your reviews._

 _Now, how will this meeting go?_

* * *

 **Reveal and Not Disappointment**

John knew he had no reason to be nervous as he had technically already met Clara but that didn't stop him from jittering about. He had almost left three times and he was trying to make it a fourth. He knew that she was coming. She had told him that she was coming and she couldn't wait to speak to him properly. She had said that she wouldn't miss it for the world.

But she was late. By five minutes and 43 seconds.

He knew that he was being stupid. She probably just got caught up at work. She had not stood him up. He just needed to relax. She was coming. She was just running late and the only communication that they had was through letters. It wasn't like she just magically knew his phone number for her to text him that she was running late.

He would just have to wait. She was coming.

* * *

Clara slowed down as she reached the cafe. The one day that she wanted to leave work promptly was the one day a parent wanted to talk to her about how their son was doing. She knew that the parent was getting annoyed that her attention was more on the clock than them but she was trying to calculate how late she was going to be to meet the Doctor.

She dragged a hand through her hair before getting her breathing back to normal. She looked through the window to see him sitting at a table, reading through the menu. That was the man that she had ran into a few weeks ago and that was the Doctor, to her anyway.

She allowed herself to smile as she pushed open the door of the cafe and walked up to him.

"Hi."

He slowly lifted his head to look up at her. "Clara Oswald."

"The very person." She took the seat opposite him. "I am so sorry that I am late. A parent caught me but I think they are going to end up catching me again because I didn't listen to a word that they said because I wanted to meet up with you."

"You shouldn't have rushed if it was important." He said.

"No, they always catch me once a month because they believe that their son should be doing better. You just have to humour them for a bit and then tell them that he is doing fine and on course to hit the targets that we have for him at the end of the year. They are a nightmare but it is part of being a teacher."

He gave her a goofy smile.

"Anyway, that is enough about me. You know enough about me. I want to know about you."

"Me? There is nothing interesting about me."

"I beg to differ. You know so much about me and I feel like I know nothing about you. Like I don't even know what your real name is. Because I doubt that it is Doctor."

He gave her another smile. "John Smith."

"Hey, are you guys ready to order?" The waitress said coming up to them, with a big smile on her face.

"Of course," John said to her. "I'll have a latte."

Clara smiled. "I will have the same. Oh, do you have those lemon cupcakes?"

"The lemon and poppyseed ones? Yeah, I think we have some." The waitress said.

"Can I have one of those as well, please?" Clara said.

"Any cake for you too?" She said, turning to John.

"Yeah, anything you would recommend? The sweeter the better."

"I will surprise you." She said as she finished writing down the order before leaving them to it.

"Where were we?" John asked.

"We were talking about you."

"Clara, I am not interesting. I am an old man that writes letters to people because it is fun and I can help people without actually having to interact with them. I am not good with people."

"Is that why you sent Matt in your place?"

"Yes and no."

"Why yes and no?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

Clara giggled. "I want to know about the man I have been writing to for months, helping me get over the sudden death of my boyfriend. I want to know about you. To do that, I need to ask questions. So why was your answer yes and no?"

"It wasn't just because I am not good with people."

"Then why? Because I really want to me you. You, you."

"Clara, I ..." He stopped when their drinks and cake came. Once they were settled on the table and the waitress had left he started again.

"I … I fear that you have come to like me. I am old, Clara. I am probably old enough to be your dad and … I feared that there was something more to it. I didn't want you to turn up and be disappointed. I didn't want to lose you because of me just being me. I sent Matt in my place because he is the sort of person you should be meeting up with. I was scared that you would stop writing once you knew that I was me."

Clara took a moment to look at him. He looked sharp in the suit that he had chosen. The crisp white shirt standing out against the black waistcoat and navy jacket. She took in his hair, black at the roots but grey at the tips. It looked like he had just rolled out of bed, the curls of it going everywhere. She settled on his face. An older face, one that was gaining wrinkles. But then he had lived a life.

"I don't mind what you look like. And honestly, for the record, I have never had an interest in pretty young men. I have dated them because that is the done thing. Truthfully, I would want someone a little older."

She smiled widely at him and was glad when he gave her the same sort of smile back.

"So, Clara Oswald. What do you want to know?"


	9. Old Endings and New Beginning

_Thank you so much for the reviews. They do really make my day._

 _I am glad you are enjoying this fic so much. It makes me feel bad for telling you that this is the penultimate chapter._

 _But some more cuteness before this is finished._

* * *

 **Old Endings and New Beginning**

There was something different about writing to the Doctor, or John, now. Clara put it down to them meeting but everything about the whole thing was different. They weren't just communicating via letter but also by text and phone calls and they were meeting up every week for coffee. It was at a point that they didn't have to write the letters because they could say what they wanted to say to each other in an instant.

But there were a few things that were better said in a letter.

For the last few weeks, Clara had been trying to find the words to express how she truly felt for John. She had fallen for him once before due to the words he used. Now she found herself falling in love with him. She was sure that he felt the same way about her but he wasn't the easiest person to read.

She wondered whether she shouldn't beat around the bush. Whether she should just come out with it. Just tell him that she felt strongly about him. Invited him out on a date or something like that.

Then she wondered whether that was too blunt. She knew that she couldn't be subtle with him but there was also a line between being too subtle and being too blunt.

She knew that she would have to be the one to bite the bullet and do it. She knew that he would hide behind all the insecurities that he has. He would think that they couldn't be together because of the age gap between them and everything that relates to that point. He would just have a slight reluctance to tell her first.

So it was up to her and she had decided. She was going to go blunt. So blunt that she was going to tell him the date, time and restaurant that she is going to book. She was going to be in charge of their relationship and she was going to steer them to where they should go.

* * *

John whistled a song as he walked into work that morning. He stopped when he saw Matt and David standing by their doors and turned around to see that every single Doctor was staring at him.

"What?" He said.

Everyone walked back into their office, leaving Matt and David to answer his question.

"You are whistling," David said.

"It must be going well with Clara," Matt commented. "He has been like it since he met up with her, finally."

John rolled his eyes. "It has nothing to do with Clara."

"You have been different recently," David said.

"And it has everything to do with Clara," Matt said.

John shook his head as he walked to his office. He dropped his bag down beside his desk and sat into his seat for another day of reading letters and giving a reply. He tried to ignore them as Matt and David sat in the seats in front of his desk.

"Look I know what you two are after. You aren't the next Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Just come out with what you want to say." John said when he realised that they weren't going to move.

"Who is Clara?" David asked.

"Someone I am writing to," John said.

"You know what happened between you and Rose," Matt said to David.

"I still feel bad for Chris about that all. I know that he said that he didn't but I think he fell in love with her as well. I always feel like I have stolen her off of him."

"Well, that is what is happening now. Clara was mine and was given over to John. Although I do get the feeling that she feels more for him than she did for me."

"I will argue that she was younger when she wrote to you," John said.

"I don't mind," Matt told him. "If she has made you less of a grump then it works for me. Come on John, you are happier now. And it was since you met up with Clara. Just admit it."

"Okay, Clara has made me a different person." He said as he went back to his post. "Look don't expect me to go all..." He smiled as he picked up Clara's recent letter.

Matt stood up and looked at the letter. "It's from her."

"Sorry, you were saying," David said.

John looked at both of them. "Shut up. Haven't you two got something better to do than bothering me?"

David and Matt just smiled as they left him to it.

* * *

It was unlike him to dwell on things, but as he sat in the restaurant, waiting for Clara to arrive, he couldn't stop himself reaching into his jacket to grab the letter sitting inside the pocket. He took it out and read it for the hundredth time since he received it. He hadn't replied to her by text or when they meet up. Something about it screamed that what they needed to talk about needed to be saved for letters and this meeting.

John knew what he had to tell her but he was struggling to find the words. He was the one that had to find the words this time. He couldn't be helped. It was something for him to figure out for himself. He stood up as he saw her approach the table.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked as she reached him.

He gave her a kiss on her cheek. "Yeah, I was a little early I have ordered us a bottle of wine. If that is alright. It is a school night after all."

She smiled at him as they both sat down. "I can have a couple."

He picked up her letter and placed it back into his jacket. He knew that she had watched him do it but that didn't matter.

"John, I think there are some things that we need to say to each other."

"I know. I am just struggling to find the words to say them." He licked his bottom lip as he thought. "I was married once. I loved her and when I lost her, I thought I had lost everything. I became the bitter man that everyone knows."

"I thought Danny might have been the one. The day that he died, I had told him that I had given my 'I love you' to him and that it was his forever." Clara explained.

"And then we started writing to each other," John said.

"Then we started writing to each other." She repeated.

"Oh, Clara Oswald, I think someone has tried to give us a second chance."

"I am willing to take it with both hands if you are as well."

"Well, when this wine finally turns up, we will have something to toast."

He gave her a goofy smile and she smiled at him before turning her attention to the table and biting her lip.

"This feels like some dream."

"If it is, I would never want to wake up."

She looked back up at him. "Nor do I."


	10. Clara Oswald and The Doctor

_Thank you so much for your reviews and your support._

 _So this is the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter like you have done the others. Something a little different for the beginning here._ _I can't say how much I have enjoyed uploading this story and how encouraging your comments have been._

 _The next story I will uploading will be Brothers, on 22nd August. A summary of the story is on my profile._ _I have written other Doctor Who fics so might be worth checking them out._

 _Again thank you for your support and let's get on with the last chapter._

* * *

 **Clara Oswald and The Doctor**

Dear Reader,

As said earlier in this story, the service that the Doctor's offer is only there for the people that would benefit from the system. It is away for people to escape from the world and their problems. The adventures are offered more for the children that write in. Everyone needs a little escapism at times. That is the purpose of the Doctor's. A doctor is there to heal people. There are different ways to heal people other than giving them medicine. Sometimes just a distraction is nice.

This story has followed two people; Clara Oswald and John Smith.

When Clara Oswald wrote the first time, it was because she had realised her worst fear. Getting lost was something she feared and she just needed a little reassurance. The Doctor took her on an adventure to try and take her mind off of it, or otherwise, her fear may have increased.

The second time she wrote, she was at a crossroads. With her mother's death, her life could have gone one of two ways. At that age, you might think that you don't need your parents but you do. Losing a parent is never easy but Clara was suffering, as every teenager would do. She needed to see that it would all get better, even if it did just require her making a soufflé.

This time is what because she had a problem accepting her boyfriend's death. She had seen the advert a number of times before she picked up the pen to write to them. She thought, this time, she could get over it by herself. The problem with Danny Pink's death was that she partly blamed herself. After all, it was when she was giving him her 'I love you'. There was also the problem that everything reminded her of him. The problem with dating a colleague.

She had put herself down and with that, had committed herself to a life of loneliness. Someone who has lost so much so young.

John had also lost people. Parents, wife, the children that were never meant to be. It made him reluctant to let in anyone else. So many people had come and gone from his life, could you really blame him? It meant that he had missed out on things. He had never found another love. He would just go to work to come back to a cold empty house. A miserable existence that made him miserable.

Each Doctor is carefully chosen and each Doctor is carefully allocated. There is a reason as to why a Doctor is given a certain person while they may be suited to someone different.

The reason that Clara Oswald and John Smith were put together was because they could help each other. They fell in love with each other because of the words used. There is nothing simpler than the pure choice of words and how they are put.

Strange, isn't it?

* * *

Clara looked up at the house as she carried the first box to it. It had been a couple of months since she and John started dating. A couple of glorious months. He was just right for her. She knew that she had been stupid to think that she would never find anyone else after Danny. The Doctors had shown her that there was someone else in the world for her.

It was on a whim that John had asked her to move in. He had said it one night when the wine had flowed a little too freely. She thought that it was just a drunken moment but apparently he had been deadly serious about it.

So that was why she was standing, outside his house, with his car full of her belongings, looking up at her new home.

"I didn't really have you done as the domestic type." She said when he joined her. "I mean that is a proper dream house."

"River wanted the house. I was fine just having a flat. She was off seeing the world most of the time due to the archaeology. I didn't spend much time at home either in my youth. I suppose she always thought that life would have made us more of a family of two."

"It isn't too late to if you want a family."

"Calm down Clara. I have only just asked you to move in with me. We don't need to move too quickly."

"By the rate that we are moving, we will be married by the end of the year."

He chuckled. "You would still have to be Clara Oswald. I don't think that Clara Smith would have the same ring to it."

"I don't know about that."

She turned and smiled up at him. He gave her the same goofy grin that he always gave her.

"Come on, we better get all your stuff in. It looks like it might rain. Wouldn't want your stuff to get wet?"

There was a spring in her step as she followed him towards the house, the place she was now going to call home. As she stepped into the hallway, she knew that it had lacked a woman's touch. Something that she was sure that she would put right. It wouldn't take her long to put her own little touches on the place. That is if he wanted her to.

She followed him into the lounge and placed her box next to the one he was carrying. She took in the room, noting the minimalistic way that he had decorated the house.

"I am literally going to be an explosion of colour here, aren't I?"

"Yes you are, not that I mind. I think it needs a little colour."

In the small moment that they were stood there, the rain came pouring down, hitting against the bay window. They both turned to it.

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain." Clara sang.

He resisted the urge to grab her hand and spin her around as he sung the rest of the song. "Then I'm the love that you've looked for, write to me, and escape" He sung."If I remember the song right. Sums us up, doesn't it?

She smiled up at him. "Oh, it does."

"Well, I don't like getting caught in the rain. Luckily, I closed the door to my car." He turned to her properly. "How about I show you the rest of the house?"

She slipped her hand into his and moved closer to him. "What starting here and ending in the bedroom?"

"If you want." He bent down and kissed her, wrapping his free arm around her, bring her as close as he could to him. "Or we could just head straight there and wait for the rain to pass?"

"That sounds like a good idea."

He smiled down at her before pulling on their joined hands. He may have brought this house with River but with Clara, he was finally going to make it his home.


End file.
